Orienting device



Nov. 29, 1949 A. KNUDSEN I ORIENTING DEVICE Filed Aug. 12, 1946 Y JH/UMVKOO Ad Knudsen Mia/5M- Patented Nov. 29, 1949 UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE ORIENTING DEVICE Ad Knudsen; Long Beach, Calif.

Application August 12, 1946, Serial No. 689,851

This invention relates to devices for orienting tools in well bores, and more specifically to improved devices for determining the orientation of apparatus or tools, such as whipstocks, positioned in inclined well bores.

It is well known that many well bores drilled by rotary tools deviate from the vertical, and that such deviations may cause the bore to miss a particular oil-bearing stratum or locality intended to be reached by the bore. It is also known that after a well bore has been started, it is sometimes desirable to deflect the path of the drilling tools to direct the path of the bore to a desired area. Bore holes being drilled may be deflected in a desired direction by the use of a whipstock having an inclined guiding face or surface which deflects the drilling bit in a direction away from the inclined surface. Whipstocks may be positioned in a bore hole on the lower end of drilling apparatus, and after the whipstock is properly located and oriented with its inclined guiding surface facing in the desired direction, it is disconnected from the drill string, as by shearing its connection to the drill string, and drilling may then be continued with the drill bit being deflected in the desired direction. There are, of course, other tools in addition to whipstocks which may require orientation within a well bore in the carrying out of drilling and other operations.

It is one of the objects of the invention to provide an improved orienting device for enabling whipstocks or other tools or apparatus to be properly oriented within an inclined well bore.

It is another object of the invention to provide an improved recording device for indicating the orientation of apparatus located in an inclined well bore.

It is another object of the invention to provide an orienting device for recording the position of apparatus within a well bore with respect to the inclination of the well bore.

It is another object of the invention to provide an orientation recording device which eliminates the use of delicate instruments, such as compasses, within the device.

It is another object of the invention to provide an orientation recording device of simple construction which produces a record that shows whether or not the device has operated to furnish a correct record.

It is another object of the invention to provide a self-contained orientation recording device which may be dropped into a drill string and 3 Claims. (01. 33-205.5)

2 be removed therefrom by a simple sand line after the orientation record has been made.

It is the further object of the invention to provide an improved orientation recording device for use within a drill sub, whipstock, or other tool, having a small permanent magnet positioned therein in known angular relation to the position of the tool.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of the embodiments of the invention shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein,

Figure 1 is an elevation view, partly in section, of a preferred form of orientation recording device, positioned for operation in a drill sub.

Figure 2 is an elevation view, partly in section, of a portion of a modified form of orientation recording device, positioned for operation in a drill bit and whipstock assembly.

Figure 3 is a plan view of a record of direction of inclination produced by conventional inclination recording apparatus.

Figure 4 is a plan view of a photographic record produced by the orientation recording device of either Figure 1 or Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a directional orientation record computed by combinin the records shown in Figures 3 and 4.

Referring to the drawings, for purposes of illustration, the embodiment of the invention shown in Figure 1 includes an orientation recording instrument holder Ill positioned for operation within a drill sub II. The lower end of the drill sub II is provided with a coupling thread l2 for attachment to a drill bit, whipstock, or other assembly of which an orientation record is desired. The recording instrument holder H1 is shown seated on an internal shoulder H3 in the bore of the sub II, and is provided at its upper end with an overshot spearhead [4 for engagement with conventional fishin tools. The recording instrument is contained with a tubular housing 15 within the holder Ill and includes a photo-sensitive record disc I6 alined with a lens IT to record a picture of the spherical ball elements l8- and IS. A battery and a timing device of conventional character are provided in the upper portion 20 of the housing I5 for illuminating the lamps 2| at the instant at which a photographic record is to be made. The lower end of the housing I 5 is provided with a concave surface 22 supporting the spherical ball I8. An opaque sleeve 23 supports a transparent plate 24 a short distance above the surface 22, the

plate 24 having a flat upper surface for supporting the spherical ball I 9. The ball I 8 is made from magnetic material and the ball I9 is preferably of non-magnetic material. A small permanent magnet 25 is carried by or secured in the side wall of the drill sub II at a distance above the instrument supporting shoulder I 3, so that it will be adjacent the periphery of the curved surface 22 when the holder I and the instrument therein are positioned in the drill sub I I as illustrated. The orientation of the permanent magnet 25 with respect to the drill sub II or with respect to a tool attached to the drill sub I I is noted before the drill sub is inserted into a well bore. For simplicity, the magnet 25 may be positioned in absolute alinement with the inclined face of a deflection or whipstock tool carried on a drill bit threaded on the lower end of the drill sub I I.

The modified embodiment of my invention illustrated in Figure 2 shows an orientation recordin instrument holder positioned for operation in the bore of a drill bit 3|, the latter having cutting blades '32 on the lower end thereof. The holder 30 is shown seated on an internal shoulder 33 in the bore of the drill bit 3i. The upper end of the holder 3!! may be provided with an overshot spearhead or other conventional means for withdrawing the holder from a drill string by the usual sand line. The lower end of the drill bit 3i is provided with a depending Whipstock 34 secured to the bit by a shear pin 35. The recording instrument within the holder 30 includes a photo-sensitive record disc 36 alined with a lens 31 to record a picture of the spherical balls 33 .and 39. A battery and timing device of conventional character are provided in the upper portion 45 of the holder 30 for illuminating the lamps 4i at the instant at which a photographic record is to be made. A support 42 is provided in the holder 30 for the ball 38, and an opaque sleeve 43 supports the transparent plate 44 above the support 42. The sleeve 43 may be recessed at its lower inner end to cause the ball 38 to be partially covered by the sleeve when the ball is adjacent the periphery of the plate 42. The ball 38 is made from magnetic material and the ball 39 is preferably of non-magnetic material. A small permanent magnet 45 is secured in the side wall of the drill bit 3i, preferably in alinement with the shear pin and the face of the whipstock 34.

The method of operation of the orientation recording device will now be described. In well bores in which a portion of the bore is inclined to the vertical, the drill sub I I or drill bit 3i will be inclined to the vertical as generally indicated in Figures 1 and 2. The drill sub 3| may have a drill bit carrying a whipstock or other tool fastened to the lower end thereof. When it is desired to determine the orientation of the tool, the orientation recording device contained Within a holder IE or 39 is dropped or lowered into the drill string after the timing mechanism in the upper portion 2G or 4d of the device has been started to illuminate the lamps ill or 4| after a predetermined time interval. The time interval should be great enough to permit the device to reach and seat upon the shoulder E3 or 33. When the device is thus seated within the drill sub or drill bit, depending on the construction used, the magnetic ball I8 or 38 is attracted by the permanent magnet 25 or to a position adjacent the magnet as illustrated. The non-magnetic ball I9 or '39 resting on a flat 4 transparent supporting plate 24 or 44 takes a position by gravity on the lowest edge of said transparent plate. At the preselected instant, the lamps 2| or 4| are flashed by the timing mechanism 20 or 46 and a photographic record of the relative positions of the balls is recorded on the sensitive disc I6 or 36. After the instant for recording has passed, the instrument holder II] or 3B is withdrawn from the drill string, as by a sand line, and the record disc is removed and photographically developed. The record produced may be as illustrated in Figure 4, with ball I8 or 38 being shown in part, as at 48, and

with ball I9 or 39 being shown completely, as at 49. The ball I8 or 38 is recorded only in part since a portion of the ball is covered by the opaque sleeve 23 or 43. If the image of the ball l8 or 38 is not partially covered in the developed record, the record should be discarded since it indicates that the ball It or 38 was not properly positioned by the magnet 25 or 45.

The developed record shown in .Figure 4 may be combined graphically with an inclination direction record, such as that illustrated in Figure 3. The inclination record of Figure 3 may be produced by single-shot apparatus for recording inclination and direction of inclination, such as that described in the United States patent to Alexander Anderson, No. 2,144,422, dated January 17, 1939. The inclination record of Figure 3 includes an image of a compass card 50 and of a plumb bob 55, the record showing both the amount and the direction of well bore inclination. In combining the orientation record of Figure 4 with the inclination record of Figure 3, the image 49 of the non-magnetic ball is alined radially with the plumb bob image "5i, and the image 48 of the magnetic ball is plotted on the compass card image 50. Such a combined record, illustrated in Figure 5, indicates that the orientation of the permanent magnet 25 or 45, and the orientation of the tool alined therewith, is angle 2 degrees west of south, i. e., that the inclination of the well bore is due east and that whipstock 34 or other tool faces .2 degrees east of north. To orient the whipstock so as to deflect further drilling back toward a vertical bore, the Whipstock support should, therefore, be turned counterclockwise ninety minus a degrees before shearing the pin 35 and proceeding with deflected dri ling.

It will be noted that the improved orientation recording device above-described is of relatively simple construction not requiring the incorporation of delicate compass or other suspended elements therein. The device is of rugged construction adapted for use in cooperation with exi ting inclination recording apparatus, and is effective to produce an accurate or entation record of apparatus positioned in inclined well bores. The orientation records produced clearly indicate whether or not the magnetic ball has been properly biased by the permanent magnet to give a correct record.

Other advantages of this invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art of bore surveying and drilling, and it will also be apparent that many changes in minor details, proportions and design may be carried out within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a device for mak ng an orientation record of apparatus in an incl ned bore. the combination comprising a closed housing adapted to be positioned within said apparatus, a pair of freely eans rolling spherical elements, supporting means within said housing upon which said spherical elements are freely rollable in transverse directions, one of said spherical elements being of magnetizable material adapted to be attracted toward the side of said housing by a permanent magnet carried by said apparatus, the other of said spherical elements being of non-magnetic material, and means for photographing said spherical elements simultaneously in their relative positions when said housing is positioned within said apparatus.

2. In a device for making an orientation record of apparatus in an inclined bore, the combination comprising a closed housing adapted to be positioned within said apparatus, a pair of freely rolling spherical elements supporting means within said housing upon which said spherical elements are freely rollabie in transverse directions, said means including an individual support for one spherical element and a second individual support for the other spherical element, the first of said supports being spaced axially from the second of said supports whereby said spherical element on said first support is outside of the effective magnetic field of a permanent magnet carried by said apparatus 'when said housing is REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this Went:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,877,593 Roman Sept. 13, 1932 2,098,476 Webster Nov. 9, 1937 2,120,670 Hyer June 14, 1938 2,187,367 Smith Jan. 16, 1940 2,309,905 Irwin et al Feb. 2, 1943 2,327,658 Miller Aug. 24, 1943 2,338,028 Doll Dec. 28, 1943 

